Rift
by Paillette
Summary: A journey to find love beyond an impossible rift in friendship and in death.
1. End of the Old Life

**Rift**, v. infinity

**Disclaimer**: The locations and characters are not my doing and I cannot claim them (they belong to Squaresoft). However, this story is my own version and continuation of the wonderful world of Final Fantasy VII.

**Author's Note**: Oh little _Rift_, when I found you again you were dangling at the end of page 122 in the Final Fantasy VII section, story number 3049. No matter what happens or how many years pass, you will always be first in my heart. ;)

This is version: infinity of my dream of many years. Cloud and Tifa forever. **-P**

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**Chapter 1**

End of the Old life

—

Standing alone on the deck of _The Highwind_, Tifa leaned over the railing to stare at the landscape below. She didn't have time to distinguish any landmarks before they flashed past her– splashes of green forest, red canyon, and the myriad dots of color from the cities– all finally melding into one long stretch of blue ocean.

Tifa was looking at all of this, but she wasn't seeing any of it. She was staring blankly into the air with a very un-Tifa Lockheart expression on her face, which meant that it was seemingly emotionless. The lines of her small mouth were completely void of her usual cheerful smile.

In her eyes, however, was turbulence. She had to make a decision now, there was no more putting it off, no more making up distractions so that she wouldn't have to deal with it.

_This is too stressful_, she thought to herself, stretching her arms over her head and arching her back against the wind. _I don't have to decide right now, I still have a little bit more time..._

Time seemed to be her only constant, now that the war had just ended. All of her friends had gone back to their homes, and she had to decide what she had to do with the rest of her life. She smiled a little, recalling her last conversation with Barret that had happened just over an hour ago.

"You gonna be okay, Tifa?"Barret had asked her as she prepared to board the Highwind. She had just finished saying goodbye to him and Marlene in Kalm.

"Yeah," she answered and summoned the brightest smile she could manage before facing him. "It's going to be fun! This isn't the first time I've had to start my life over from scratch."

"Sure..." he said, scratching the rough stubble of a beard on his face and looking at her skeptically. "But you better promise me that you'll come an' visit sometimes, or at least write an' lemme know what you're up to– and don't let that spiky-headed punk talk you into another dumb-ass adventure of his..."

Tifa forced a short laugh to cut him off before he could hint again at talking to Cloud.

"Don't worry so much, Barret," she smiled. "You'll need that energy to learn how to live the settled life from now on."

"Hmph," Barret snorted. "Me an' 'settled' don't belong in the same sentence. It's Marlene I'm thinkin' of." He cast a protective glance over his shoulder to see his daughter chatting animatedly with another little girl who lived in town.

He turned back to face Tifa and looked as though he were going to say more, but he was interrupted by Cid yelling from the ship deck for Tifa ("Hurry your damn slow ass up, or I'm leavin' ya behind!" ).

Tifa had to shout her goodbyes to both Marlene and Barret over the roaring of the engines as she ascended the rope ladder leading to the deck. As the ship began to rise into the air, Barret yelled up to her from the ground–

"Tifa! Jus' talk to him!"

_Just talk to him_, she mused now as the wind played with her long, chocolate-colored hair. _Of course it's so easy to say, but perhaps it's too late now? He's still grieving_... A tiny frown settled upon her face and she noticed that she was shivering. She wrapped her arms around herself and was still thinking when a perky voice from behind startled her.

"Whaddaya doin' up here, Teef?" it chirped.

Tifa turned around to see a young girl of sixteen with short, dark hair and a very wide smile that gave you the sudden impulse to hold on to your wallet.

"Hi, Yuffie..." Tifa said slowly. _What's she so happy about_? Tifa wondered. _She's usually moaning and complaining in the hallway. Maybe she took a Hyper instead of her usual Tranquilizer_... She voiced her concern.

"Oh, no. I'm just really happy." Yuffie replied giddily. "I mean, I'm _finally _getting off this Leviathan-forsaken ship for good, and..." she trailed off mysteriously and held up a drawstring bag. "Cloud gave me some of his materia!" She shouted gleefully. "I mean, he actually _gave _it to me! I didn't even have to force a contract!"

Yuffie looked very pleased with herself as she stashed the magic orbs back into her shorts. Tifa raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, suspecting that Cloud had given Yuffie the "just born" materia without any levels, which wasn't a loss to someone with Mastered materia.

"You know what?" Yuffie began, unwrapping a large chunk of pink bubble gum and mashing it into her mouth. Tifa just stared out into the sky, very used to blocking out Yuffie-rants.

"I'm feeling generous today," Yuffie continued, looking sideways at Tifa, as if seeing her in a whole new light.

"I'll tell you something good," she went on. "You remember that guy who owned the Turtle Paradise back in Wutai?" She didn't pause for an answer. "Well, he told me that he's selling the bar, so I told him that 'Hey, my friend used to own a bar, before those Shinra bastards blew it up,' and he was all for like, selling you his bar cheap just because he said it was so unfair what the stupid Shinra did, and that you bartenders need to stick together and stuff."

Tifa snorted slightly at the "bartenders sticking together" line, as if there had been some secret society. Tifa also knew that the real reason why he wanted to get rid of the place was because the Wutaian economy situation had been taking a crash course toward bankruptcy ever since the Wutai/Shinra war, and everyone was suffering under the Mako monopoly that Shinra holding over business owners.

Had_ been suffering, _Tifa corrected herself. Shinra had fallen from grace, liberating the people and the Planet from Mako bondage.

_Business should be picking up again soon, _she thought, _since people don't have all those Mako taxes to pay anymore. Might be a good investment. And yet_... She paused to replay her original desire to return to Nibelheim with Cloud over in her head.

_I have to talk to him. _She decided. _Now_.

"I'm sorry, Yuffie, but I need some time to think about it," she finally said.

"Oh, well," said Yuffie, not sounding upset in the least. Tifa had to admire the girl's articulation as she had a huge wad of pink bubble gum sticking halfway out of her mouth.

"After we drop Cloud off, we'll be headed there, so lemme know." Yuffie finished her sentence with a loud snapping noise from an exploded bubble before she turned around and bounced back inside the door to the interior of the ship.

Tifa, meanwhile, was stunned in place.

"Drop...Cloud off?" Tifa murmured with an expression of shock on her face. "Where? Where is he going?"

She prepared to open the door herself when it opened for her.

"Hey there, coming in?" said a friendly, so very familiar voice. Tifa gazed up into its owner's bright, sapphire eyes that glowed a faint green due to their contact with Mako. Cloud smiled down at her with a curious look on his face.

"No, not now," she finally replied. "I was just looking for you," she said, her eyes still mercilessly locked onto his.

"Oh, me too." Cloud replied quickly. "Looking for you, I mean."

He looked away as he stepped onto the deck and pulled the door shut behind him. He proceeded to walk to the edge of the deck and took hold of the rail. Tifa decided to speak first.

"So..." she started with what she hoped was an up-beat tone. "Where are we headed?" She walked slowly up behind him and waited an eternity for his reply.

"...Gonaga," he answered with a hint of sadness lingering in his voice. He turned to face her. She felt her heart skip a little and self-consciously lifted her hand to tuck a few strands of her long, dark hair behind her ear. She noticed small lines appear on his forehead that she recognized as his "determined" facial expression that he wore when he was about to announce the course of action for a new mission.

"I've decided to go to Gonaga," he repeated. Tifa could only stare at him. _Why that ruin? What could possibly be there?_ she wondered. Cloud saw her arched brow and continued.

"Zack's parents still live there. I feel that it's my duty to tell them the truth..."

"And after that?" Tifa asked earnestly.

"Then, I have one more thing to reconcile with..." He trailed off again, and shifted his eyes to the floor. The wind ruffled his spiked, blonde hair.

"You mean Aeris," Tifa said quietly. Cloud looked up suddenly, but her eyes would not meet his, so he turned around again.

"Yes. After Gonaga, I'm taking my Gold Chocobo and riding it to the Crater, the Promised Land. I have to talk to her. I need her forgiveness for failing her...after I promised that I would protect her, and got her involved-"

"But Cloud, she's dead!" Tifa shouted suddenly. She turned around quickly to hide the tears brimming in her maroon colored eyes as he turned a startled face toward her.

"She can't forgive anyone now!" Tifa continued, desperately struggling to not lose control. "Her spirit must have returned to the planet already."

"Tifa!" Cloud said in a slightly astonished voice. "I can't live my life with the guilt that I let someone die because they trusted that I would protect them! This is the only way!" Tifa was silent, and reached up to wipe tears from her cheek.

"Tifa, look at me..." Cloud pleaded softly and took a step toward her. She responded by taking a step toward the door. The ship was nearing the outskirts of Gonaga. The green circle of forest surrounding the charred ruin was coming into view.

"It's okay," she said, and taking a deep breath, "Don't let me hold you back. Do what you have to do." She felt tears slide uncontrollably down her cheek as she quickly retreated to the interior the ship, leaving Cloud behind to stand alone on the deck.


	2. The Rift Widens

**Chapter 2 **

The Rift Widens

—

_Way to go, Strife_, Cloud thought, slapping his palm to his forehead as the door to the deck of the Highwindslammed in his face. _Not only did you piss her off, but you didn't even tell her what you really came up here for_._ Now you'll never get another chance..._

Cloud grimaced at his internal thoughts as he continued to curse his stupidity. He walked over to the rail again and kicked the post, but his foot glanced off the edge and flew through the gap between the bars. He lost his balance and fell flat on his back.

"Oow..." Cloud groaned, rubbing the back of his head where it had smacked the deck. _Everything about today sucks..._

He lay with his back to the deck and his hands folded behind his head, staring thoughtfully at the blue and swirling white sky above him.

_Tifa, why is it so hard to say? _he thought for the millionth time. _I mean, we've come this far together, working together through the war– you've always been right by my side... _

Cloud sighed deeply and pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes. _Now that the fighting is over, there's this... distance. I can't ask you to go a little further with me, it's just different this time. I don't want you to think..._

The corners of his mouth that normally smiled so easily became a deep frown as he mentally reprimanded himself again. It was stupid for him to wish that she wouldn't think exactly what he _wanted _her to think. If asking her to go to the ends of the Planet with him might suggest that he liked her as more than a friend, then that was good, right?

_No!_ came the firm, rehearsed answer. He just couldn't risk it. He hated the possibility that after he had finally found the courage to tell Tifa how much he cared about her, the delicate balance that was their friendship would be upset. What if she didn't feel the same way? Then he wouldn't even have the comfort of her present distance. A rift would be rent between the two of them. There would only be an uneasy tension between them after the rejection, both knowing that forbidden feeling still lingered within him.

No, he couldn't stand that. At least as friends, he could blithely follow her like a puppy just content with its master's company. He couldn't bring himself to break her trust and happiness for the sake of his own, selfish feelings.

_Moron, what do you think you just did? You think she was crying for _joyCloud groaned again, rubbing his face with his hands as he rolled to one side. He couldn't make her happy either way. Maybe he should just...leave. It was better than sitting right in front of her, watching her cry and knowing that there wasn't a damn thing he could do to comfort the suffering he himself had caused. He was of no use to her. He was a burden, and in the way of her happiness.

At that moment, the door burst open with the sound of frenzied, rushing feet.

"Wark! Wark! Waaaaarrrrrkkkk!!!!"

"Yaahh!! Crazy chocobo! Calm DOWN!! Owowow!! No biting!"

Cloud leapt to his feet before he got trampled by the Steve the Stable Boy and Smooth, his Gold Ocean Chocobo.

"Whoa, there there, boy," Cloud said to his giant bird steed, taking the reigns and stroking its beak gently.

Steve the Stable Boy leaned against the side of the ship with his hands on his knees, panting as Cloud adjusted the saddle and bridle. The airship began to shudder slightly as it prepared to land. Several of Cid's crew members rushed down rope ladders to secure the ship from the ground, and after a few minutes the ship was bobbing as lightly in the air as a skiff on the water.

As the crew proceeded to assemble the Chocobo Air-Release Device (CARD) that would deposit the bird safely on the ground, Cid appeared to send Cloud off.

"So, this is it, Mr. Leader?" Cid said, adjusting his pants.

"Oh, don't say it like that, Cid," replied Cloud sympathetically. "I'm sure we'll have some sort of reunion in few years. You'll see us all again far sooner than you'd like, I'll bet."

"Whaddaya talking about, Spike?" said Cid with a snort. "I mean, I thought there were two chocobos. Where's Mint?"

Cloud hesitated for a moment. Mint was Tifa's Green Mountain Chocobo. Cid had assumed that Tifa would be going with Cloud. Instead of explaining to Cid and getting his ear chewed off with the "Too-Young-To-Know-What-You've-Got-Until-It's-Too-Late" speech, Cloud opted for a less heart breaking route.

"Well, I only see one," he said shortly, hoisting himself into the saddle. He tugged on the rope leading from the basket that his chocobo was in to the ground to signal he was ready as Cid crossed his arms over his chest and viciously chomped on his cigarette, obviously annoyed at having his intelligence insulted.

"Have it your way, kid," muttered Cid as the basket lowered from view.

—

On the ground, Cloud started Smooth off at a canter, making straight for the forest ahead and leaving the sunset behind him. An increasingly sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach grew, however, the further he ventured from the ship. He kept waiting for the sound of the air ship to take off, but there was only the dull humming of its fan blades and the occasional creaking of its rusted metal siding. He bit his bottom lip and nudged his feathered companion slightly in the ribs with his heels to move a little faster.

When he finally reached the edge of the forest, he could resist the urge to look back no longer. As he turned, he finally heard the sound of the old engine kicking back into life and the distant shouts of the remaining crew members preparing to take off. With his Mako enhanced sight, he thought he saw on the faraway deck of the _Highwind_ a lone figure standing with a long trail of dark hair twisting in the wind beside her.

He watched as the ship lifted slowly into the sky and headed off into the deepening crimson sunset. He suddenly felt very lonely and vulnerable as the wind whipped out of the trees behind him and onward toward the figure on the ship deck. He stared into the distance until he was only imagining the speck of the airship in the fading sunlight.

Smooth was growing restless, shifting on his clawed feet and drawing Cloud's attention back to reality. Sighing, Cloud shook his head and drew the reins up, leading the bird's head in the direction of the dense forest. He stared numbly at the dirt path in front on him, reins slack in his loose grip as his thoughts were elsewhere.

_Tifa,_ he thought. _Please forget about me, please be happy. I'll never see your beautiful smile again, but I know someone else will, and he'll make you so much more happy than I ever could._

Cloud's eyes narrowed as he resolved once more that he was doing the right thing. He tightened his grip and jerked the startled chocobo into a trot, proceeding deeper into the shadows of the forest.

—

Tifa wanted a quiet place to calm down, but she knew that she couldn't get down the hallway without running into someone. She saw the stable man leave the Chocobo Room, so she headed quickly into it. She collapsed onto a pile of straw and lay there, concentrating on clearing the lump in her throat.

_He's leaving me_... was all she could think. _No, he was never _with_ me to begin with. He's been in love with her... with _Aeris. Tears began rolling down her cheek again and she angrily wiped them away.

_If I had only told him sooner, he might have stayed...he might have loved me_... Visions of her dead friend swirled around her head and a new wave of tears she thought that she had already cried came to her again. She didn't try to fight them back anymore, but refrained from crying out loud, trying not to draw attention to herself.

Tifa's Mint was in there, as well as Yuffie's Yellow Plains Chocobo, Bauble. Mint, being asleep, took no heed of Tifa's sudden intrusion. Bauble, however, taking notice of its new neighbor, warbled to her in an almost sympathetic way. Tifa choked on a sob and stared at it, suddenly noticing that it had such lovely, calm, blue eyes and bright yellow feathers sticking up in all different directions on it's head.

_Like Cloud's hair, and his eyes_... Tifa thought absently, and then was suddenly angry at herself.

"What am I doing, acting like this," she said aloud. "Crying like a child, I should be ashamed of myself."

She stood up, brushed off tears and straw, and strode purposefully from the room and toward the bridge.

—

Cid was yelling at one of the flunkies again, so it was a moment before he noticed her.

"What the hell were ya thinkin'?!" Cid yelled down at the cowering pilot-in-training. "You go AROUND the God-damned mountain, not try to run straight into it!! Whadda ya tryin' to do, wreck the _Highwind_?!" A vein was throbbing dangerously in Cid's forehead.

"God-damned flunky! Might as well pilot the m#$&-f$ing ship myself!" With that, he reached up to grab his pack of cigarettes from behind the strap of his goggles sitting on top of his head, and found it empty.

"GODDAMMIT!!"

Cid spun around in a rage to find the slightly alarmed Tifa quietly standing in his path.

"Oh, sorry you had to see that, Tifa." Cid said in normal tones. "Just cussing out this half-wit lackey for nearly killing us all." He threw a dirty look over his shoulder at the terrified teenager who had taken Tifa's appearance as a God send and had crept carefully away towards the hallway.

"Git on! Git on down to the stables and shovel shit for awhile!" Cid yelled as the trembling creature fled from sight.

"Yeah, you'd better run..." Cid muttered . He was reminded of Tifa's presence by her soft laughter from behind him. He turned around to face her.

"Well, where are you off to?" he asked, all business again. "Wait a minute, I thought you were following Cloud to Gonaga? He's waitin' for ya, ain't he?" he continued, watching the cheerful smile disappear from her face.

"Oh, Teef. I'm...I'm sorry," Cid stammered, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "He didn't...I didn't think he was serious..." Cid started to apologize, but Tifa cut him off as Yuffie skipped into the room.

"What do you mean, Cid?" Tifa asked innocently, although she was desperately stifling another wave of tears. "I had no intention of following Cloud anywhere," she lied, and she knew by the skeptical look on his face that Cid knew, too, but she continued on with a brave front.

"I'm going with Yuffie, as it happens, to Wutai..." Yuffie heard this and jumped over in their direction.

"Really? That's great, Tifa!" Yuffie exclaimed, and Tifa was actually surprised at her enthusiasm. "Now, you'll let me work there, right?" Yuffie continued. "That old fart owner fired me and wouldn't let me work there again, but I swear I won't steal from the customers this time!"

Tifa cast a sideways glance at Yuffie, but continued to address Cid. "Yeah, I kinda miss owning my own business, and I think I'm going buy the Turtle Paradise bar there." _Even if that isn't what I wanted in the first place, it won't be so bad_, she thought. _One has to learn how to improvise if one wants to survive_...

After confirming the final destination to be Wutai, Tifa excused herself to the deck again, and took up her previous post. Cloud was gone, of course, along with his chocobo.

_I'll miss you_, she thought to herself as the wind picked up speed again. _But I'll make it without you. I've done this before without you._

Tifa tilted her chin up a bit as the wind blew errant tears from her eyes and played with her long hair once more. She was as sure that she would never see him again as she was sure that she would never love someone as she had loved him. She stared off into the distance, waiting to see her new home.


	3. Falling

**Chapter 3**

Falling

—

_Oh Hell, I'm no good at this..._

Cloud stood hesitantly at the door of a run-down stone hut which was marred with the black scorch marks of a Mako explosion. He had been pacing in front of the door for over an hour, practicing the long over-due speech he would deliver to the parents of his dead friend.

'_Mr. and Mrs. Morse, I'm sorry to tell you this, but your son has been dead for over seven years...' No, no, that's too blunt. How to break it slowly..._

Cloud sighed as he ran his gloved hand through his disheveled hair and began to re-trace his well-worn path in the ground in front of the house. He stared down at the dusty ground, as if it could offer an answer.

_Zack...Zack was...he was brave, strong...saved my life...flirted with my girlfriend..._

Cloud scowled at himself. He needed to concentrate, but all he could think about was Tifa.

_She was never my girlfriend, I blew that chance a long time ago. _

Cloud stopped pacing as his thoughts wandered off again. He wondered where she was, and what she was doing right now. He hadn't even asked what she was going to do after the war against Sephiroth was over.He had been too busy planning their adventure together.

Cloud's frown deepened as he rememberedthat he was now alone and it was all his fault. The words "If only I had asked her sooner" had been plaguing his mind for the past five years, since he was sixteen years old and saw her growing closer to Zack.

_And why shouldn't she?_ he thought to himself sourly. _The man was attractive, cool, strong... everything that I wasn't... and it's no one's fault but mine._

As Cloud stood lost in his bittermusings, the door to the hut slowly opened, revealing a dusty-looking, haggard old man leaning on a knobbed cane.Cloud snapped out of his reverie as he heard the creaking reluctance of the opening door. The old man smiled when hesaw the startled expression in the clear blue eyes that seemed to radiate the greenish glow of Mako– the eyes that reminded him so much of his son.

"Ah, the SOLDIER boy, come in, come in," gestured the old man with his heavily wrinkled hand, a broad smile overtaking his entire face.

Cloud managed a small, sad smile for the old man's sake as he stepped beyond the threshold, dreading that the words he was inevitably going to have to say would strip the old man of his benevolent smile forever.

—

Three hours later, Cloud was slumped over a bar stool, his face pressed to the sticky surfaceof the counter. His fingers lazily traced the rim of his sixth seven and seven as his vacant eyes stared unseeing across the bar. The tiny bar, like everything else in Gonaga, was falling apart and practically void of life. The bar keeper stood watching him from a distance with pursed lips and slowly shook his head. Cloud didn't care. Cloud didn't care about anything in the world as he sat in a drunken stupor, not even trying to make sense of the distorted shapes and muffled sounds around him.

A vague shadow of a thought passed through his hazy mind, and his innate soldier sense detected the opening and closing of the entrance door. Distantly, he knew that a solid figurewas now sitting on his left side, but Cloud ignored this thought. He closed his eyes and began humming to himself, a song he had heard long ago while he was hiding under the window of a certain girl's bedroom.

"Ah, _Highwind_," croaked a brittle, dry voice.

Cloud's eyes opened wide for a moment and he ceased to hum.Astonishment quickly turned to annoyance as Cloud's eyes narrowed, but he didn't acknowledge the stranger in any other way.

"Some pretty young girl teach you that song?" Inquired the man's voice, jestingly.

Cloud, with more agility than a cactuar, leaptfrom his drunken stupor, sending his bar stool flying across the room as his fist closed around the man's neck. Cloud panted with the effort of the sudden movement as he glared at the figure and felt its calmly beating heart beneath his fingertips.

The figure flinched, but otherwise remained still, seemingly unperturbed by Cloud's menacing grip. Cloud could not see the man's face, as his body was clad in a black robe from head to foot with a heavy hood shielding his face from view.

The man laughed– a dry, hoarse laugh that Cloud's quickly clearing mind found dimly familiar. The man saw the confusion passing over Cloud's face and laughed again, only prompting Cloud's fist to tighten.

"And who the hell are you?" Cloud asked slowly through gritted teeth.

The bar keeper, after seeing the menace writhing through Cloud's features, had been slowly creeping toward the door and now ran through it, leaving the two men alone in the dingy bar. The aura of a smile seemed to surround the cloaked man as he cleared his throat under the ever-tightening grip of Cloud's hand.

"Just an old man," the brittle voice answered. "Just wanting a drink, like you."

Cloud stood, glaring at him for several silent moments longer before throwing his hand away from the man's neck in disgust. He pulled up another stool and grumpily sat down on it, paying no more attention to the cloaked man.He buried his head in his arms on the counter.

"My, do you treat all strangers you meet with such manners?" the man asked with a slight air of sarcasm. He produced a flask from underneath his robes and unscrewed the cap. Cloud ignored him.

"Really," the man continued, "I meant no harm. One can hardly blame you for your present condition, however..." The man trailed off, seemingly waiting for Cloud's reaction. There was none.

The man took a quick drink from his flask and cleared his throat, directing his voice across the bar.

"So how did they take it? The boy's parents, I mean."

Cloud's hidden face pinched into an expression of annoyance again at the man's instance of bringing up painful memories. He briefly wondered how this man knew of the nature of his visit, but then again, if he was among the town's fifty-odd occupants, then it was entirely natural that the news could have spread to him already.

Unfazed by Cloud's stoic silence, the man took another swig from his flask and continued on as if he were having a conversation with the empty shot glasses.

"Yep, mighty sad thing, to hold on to hope for so many years only to hear the cold hard truth in several minutes.It ain't an unfamiliar truth, though, is it?"

Cloud sighed, weary of this man's pathetic attempts at subtle accusation. If he was trying to prove a point, he might as well get to it.

"Why the hell do you care, old man?" Cloud asked with his eyes tightly shut. He rose from his position on the counter and rubbing his temples with his fingertips.

"Friend of the family," the man replied dryly before taking another drink. "I was just wondering why you took all the trouble to tell them? I mean," he continued, his voice gathering a tone of accusation. "Would it have been so bad to just let the old couple live out their days in wondering bliss than to have to end life with the knowledge that all they had held on to for so many years was impossible?"

"Dammit!" Cloud shouted, pounding his fist to the counter. "What difference does it make! At least they don't have to wonder now! At least they know the truth instead of constantly second-guessing themselves!" Cloud turned to look at the man, his face easing from contorted rage to the pained lines of sorrow.

"It was my duty," he continued, "as the only one who knew of Zack's death, to tell his parents. It's all that I could do..." Cloud closed his eyes in pain and cradled his aching head in his hands.

"Ah, but I think that it was the _least_ that you could do. You couldn't face the truth in your own life, so you had to force it upon someone else," the cloaked man said quietly."The truth of loss, the truth of pain..."

Cloud slowly let go of his head and stared steadily at the cloaked figure.

"You know what I mean, don't you?" the man continued. "You ran away from your truth, but you thought that you could even out the guilt by giving a form of that truth to someone else. Trading one person for another, as long as it wasn't you who was suffering..."

Cloud's anger began to boil up inside him again, and he clenched his fists together. The cloaked man saw this and shook his covered head.

"Don't be angry at me, it was you who chose this path. You were the one who let her go without seeking the truth."

A ferocious cry of anger erupted from Cloud's mouth as he grabbed one of the empty glasses from the counter and hurled it against the wall. He stared at the shattered glass, his intoxicated mind reeling from the sudden movement as much as the sudden revelation. The fact that the man somehow knew of how he had left Tifa didn't register in his mind as much did his own guilt.

Cloud staggered as he tried to get up and lurch toward the door, clutching his head that was rent with the piercing effects of alcohol and guilt. He thrust the door of the bar open into the sharp, coldness of the air that cut into his warm lungs.His foot caught on the threshold and he sprawledinto the dirt.

In another fit of frustration and anger, he threw himself and his anger at everything in reach– tearing his clothes and his hair, beating the trunks of trees while tears streamed down his face. He screamed like a mad animal, not bothering to try to choke back the sobs that racked his body. The shadow of the cloaked man stood silently in the doorway, watching him when he fell to his knees in the dirt.

"I can help you find her again," the voice said quietly.


	4. Broken Glass and Dreams

**Chapter 4**

Broken Glass and Dreams

—

Tifa stood scrutinizing her reflection before she pulled on her shoes and left for work. It had been almost two years since Sephiroth had been defeated and AVALANCHE had disbanded. Tifa had chosen to buy the Turtle Paradise bar in Wutai and a small house to live in with the money she had earned while working with AVALANCHE.

As she had suspected, it had been difficult to settle back into a quiet life, but things were working out. She lived back a little way from the main town in a cozy little house which was perfectly suitable for single life. Outside and behind her bedroom was a small garden enclosed by a seven foot tall stone wall that was covered in ivy. Everything beyond the stone wall was forest, and beyond that was the great stone sculpture Da-Chao carved into the mountain.

The quiet solitude of the location seemed to suit Tifa, because while she lived a peaceful life, she also lived a lonely one. True, she had Yuffie's friendship, who lived not more than a few miles from her, but even the bond between the two women could not fill the aching gap longing for comfort in her heart.

Tifa wore a light pink kimono decorated in delicate cherry blossom print to her restaurant in order to maintain the traditional atmosphere of the place. She had hired Yuffie after all and let her have the job of a waitress. Tifa enjoyed cooking and hosting much more than waiting on people, anyway. Soon, the popularity of the bar had grown so much, Tifa had to hire three more helping hands just to keep up.

She took one last look in the mirror before grabbing her coat and stepping out into the evening light, walking down the road toward the restaurant. She unlocked the door and started preparing to open for business. Yuffie soon arrived also wearing a kimono, and she started seating customers and taking orders.

It was just a regular night with the regular crowd when a group of loud, boisterous young men piled into the restaurant and started demanding drinks. Tifa was wearing her usual dazzling hostess smile as she filled the glasses and politely pushed off the young men's attempts at flirting with her.

There was one man, however, who despite her efforts to reprimand his manners, would not take the hint. He was an out-of-towner that Tifa had never seen before, but he was nothing more than a punk. He kept leering and shouting cat calls at her, but it wasn't until he reached across the counter to pinch her butt that she decided she'd had enough.

Before Tifa could land a fist in his face, a person she had not noticed wearing a black cloak with a hood concealing his face did it for her. He grabbed the boy's shoulder and spun him around right into his flying fist. The guy's friends were immediately at his aid, throwing punches and breaking glasses. The cloaked man swiftly evaded their drunken aims and attacked them with the effortless grace of a shadow sliding through darkness.

Tifa watched helplessly as chairs and fists flew through the air. She was mesmerized by the cloaked man's agility and speed, but couldn't sense any form or style to hint at his training. She guessed that martial arts were not his expertise, but he hadn't been hit thus far.

The men ran out of the bar with broken and bleeding faces and shouting threats over their shoulders. The brawl had pretty much emptied the bar of all of its customers leaving Tifa, Yuffie, and the mysterious shrouded man behind. Yuffie grumbled as she got to work sweeping up glass and pieces of broken chairs. The cloaked man simply pulled up one of the few stools that were still intact and sat at the bar with his head bent and hood still hiding his face from view. He placed his gloved hands on the counter and sat perfectly silent. He hadn't uttered a single sound during the entire fight, and appeared to be waiting for acknowledgment. Tifa cleared her throat and prepared to speak.

"Can I...help you with anything? Would you like something to drink?" She said rather nervously.

With the cloaked man's ensuing silence, Tifa was not sure if he had even heard her was about to repeat her question when a gruff, masculine voice answered from underneath the hood.

"...Yeah, just give me whatever..."

The voice sounded almost familiar, if not for the scratchiness that made it sound like the owner had a cold. She fixed up the house special and set in down in front of him. He reached out a gloved hand and took the glass under his hood before setting it back down. Tifa casually leaned against the counter and attempted conversation.

"Um, I'd like to thank you for getting rid of that guy for me, but I should have taken care of it myself." She began.

"...Sorry, I'm not very patient with kids like that." The man replied in a low voice.

"That's okay. Did you get hurt at all? I've got some ice and bandages if you did..." Tifa ventured.

"I'm fine," was the curt reply.

"Oh, that's good...." Tifa said quickly. Butterflies were beginning to inhabit her stomach as she wondered who this man could be.

"Um, I didn't catch your name... Mine's Tifa Lockheart, the proprietress of this restaurant. You can just call me Tifa."

"I already knew your name. ...Cloud told me all about you." The man paused before taking another drink, and Tifa felt her smile disappear and the color drain from her face. _This man spoke to Cloud..._

"How...how is he?" Tifa said, embarrassed at herself for her reaction to his name. She picked up a washcloth and started to vigorously rub the surface of the bar.

"Lately, I wouldn't know." the cloaked man replied. "I haven't seen him for close to two years. I met him in Gonaga but then we went our separate ways."

_He was headed for the Promised Land of the Ancients_, Tifa thought, remembering that day two years ago.

"So, are you looking for him? Is that why you're here?" Tifa asked innocently.

"No, not really." the man answered carelessly and paused to take a sip of his drink. "I just happened to be passing through when I heard that you were living here and owned this place, so I thought that Cloud may have found you here."

"Found me here?" Tifa asked with wide eyes. "Was he looking for me?"

"Maybe." the man said simply. "When I met him in the bar in Gonaga, he started telling me about you, as I mentioned before..."

The man trailed off, as if waiting for her to ask him more questions. Tifa was intrigued as to what exactly Cloud had been telling strangers about her.

"What...did he say? About me, I mean..." Tifa smiled, slightly embarrassed.

The cloaked man laughed softly, "I was wondering whether you'd be interested in that."

Tifa blushed at the man's laugh. It suddenly conjured up images of a smiling face and shimmering sapphire eyes. It had been awhile since she had heard such a pleasant laugh. The cloaked man continued.

"He just mentioned a beautiful, talented, intelligent, young woman, that's all," he stated indifferently. "When I asked him if it was his girlfriend, he seemed a little embarrassed and muttered something about it being nothing of my business."

Tifa was blushing even more by now, but she was also even more skeptical. "He really said that, did he?" Tifa asked, still smiling. "And why was he telling this to a complete stranger, I wonder?" The cloaked man was quiet for a moment, and Tifa wondered whether she had said something wrong.

"...He and I had some things in common," the man said mysteriously. "One being our unfortunate past with the Shinra..."

Tifa looked at the man again and gasped. How could she have missed it? The tell-tale black cloak that they all wore, and the tattoos on their bodies. He was one of the clones, created by Hojo and manipulated by Jenova. She couldn't see this one's tattoo because he was covered from head to toe.

"So you understand," the man said upon seeing Tifa's reaction. "I thought that you would. I'm one of the few survivors." Tifa blushed again and hastily apologized.

"That's alright," the man chuckled softly again from underneath his hood. "I get more than a few stares with this outfit."

"So that explains how you know Cloud," Tifa said slowly, "but what is your name? You do have more than a number, don't you?" Tifa instantly regretted these words that had come out more forceful than she had meant them to. The clones had no name at their so-called "birth," unless they had adopted one for themselves later in life. To accuse one of not having a name was like accusing one of not being human, which, unfortunately, was not too far from the truth. The man was quiet for a moment, and Tifa's trepidation grew in the silence.

"..No, it doesn't matter. I just thought that I'd be doing him a favor if I checked up on you, so now, if you'll excuse me, I have no more business here..."

Before Tifa could apologize or beg him to stay awhile longer to tell her more about Cloud, a loud crash behind her issued from the kitchen, followed by several swear words from a voice that Tifa recognized as Yuffie's. She spun around with her back to the bar.

"Are you alright Yuffie?! What happened?" She yelled into the kitchen.

"I'm fine! I'm fine! Don't worry about me!" Yuffie yelled back quickly, with slight panic in her voice. "I'm sure it wasn't too expensive! Don't come back here!"

Tifa sighed and turned around to face the man, but found nothing more than a half-finished drink and a few Gil.


	5. Shadows of Doubt

**Chapter 5 **

Shadows of Doubt

—

A week had passed, and Tifa had not forgotten the cloaked man or his association with Cloud.

Often during the past two years, she had wondered if Cloud had found what he was looking for, if he was alright, what he was doing now, and so on. If he had been able to find Aeris in the Lifestream, what did he do after that? Would he try to find a way to resurrect her?

But that was too impossible to even think about. Even though they were living in a world where the miracles of Materia cured near-fatal wounds every day, it was against the laws of nature to raise the dead. But still, would he waste his life away, desperately seeking the unattainable?

It reminded Tifa so much of herself, and whenever she found herself in an idle moment, the old argument would come creeping up on her, like a recurring nightmare–

_Did he love her?_

Aeris had been Tifa's sole female companion-in-arms during the Battle for the Planet before Yuffie joined the group, and even after, when Yuffie was more disposed toward being annoying than sociable company. Tifa and Aeris had been best friends, and secretly, best rivals.

They were both in competition for Cloud's attention, although Tifa would never admit it and she wasn't even sure if Aeris had ever realized it. She would watch while Aeris flirted with him and even listen with a polite smile on her face afterward when Aeris would deliver the details and talk about her daydreams about Cloud. It even used to make Tifa angry, having to sit and smile and adding friendly yet short commentary, all the while thinking that Aeris wouldn't know devotion from a hole in the ground.

But even as she thought this, Tifa was sure that Aeris had never meant to hurt her. It seemed to her that Aeris was just an attractive, outgoing girl who had obviously taken an interest in Cloud, and who had also just failed to realize how much she was hurting her own friend.

But Tifa would sigh as she always did when she reached this particular point in the ancient argument that she waged against herself in her mind. She knew that it was her own fault that had never really told Aeris how she had truly felt about Cloud, and it was certainly her own fault that she had never told Cloud himself, other than reinforcing the firm belief that they were friends and shying away from any insinuation of something more.

As for Cloud, he had never really been anything but polite and friendly to Aeris in return. After she had died, however, he seemed to be the one most affected. Tifa had cried, because despite her silent rivalry for Cloud's heart, Aeris had been her friend. Cloud didn't cry, at least not around the rest of the team. He didn't say anything, and that was the most unnerving part. Not when he lay her body to rest at the bottom of the lake, not when they crossed the ice fields and the frozen glacier, following her murderer with a such fierce look of determination in his eyes.

When he did mention her name, it was with great respect and solemnity. When he spoke of her, he spoke of her great sacrifice, and of her warm smile.

When he spoke like that, he broke Tifa's heart.

She'd never asked him how he really felt about Aeris. She didn't think she would live through the heartache of having to hear him make it real. She didn't even know if she could trust herself to comfort him like the friend that she said she was. She was so scared that she might even tell him her feelings, of possibly ruining the close friendship they had shared for so long, that she let the chance to tell him escape altogether.

Now he was gone, and she was left with the guilt of being too afraid to tell him the truth and at least hear his side. Never a day went by that she didn't regret not telling him her feelings. Even if he had rejected her, at least there wouldn't be this feeling left behind. This feeling of uncertainness. It ate at her every second of consciousness, and every moment in her dreams. It hurt so badly that she would have the sudden impulse to get up and find him, just to pour her aching heart out to him, no matter the circumstance, for at least she would be rid of it.

But then she remembered the familiar fear of rejection. She could just imagine him trying to let her down easily, telling her that they were still good friends, but he just didn't see her that way.

They would never be close again after that. There would always be a wary look in his eyes, too afraid to get too close again. Or perhaps he would be just so disgusted with her confession that he would turn his back on her forever.

In the end, she always decided that it was better this way. Loving him from a distance was better than losing his respect and friendship. But to finally be at rest in his arms...if only he could understand!

Then she would just start the circle over again. Her pain was endless, and there was no escape. So she lived another day, the longing never ceasing, ever growing. That's why in the times when they were together as friends, just to be near him gave her infinite peace and happiness. The void was filled, if only temporarily, and she felt bliss. When he left, the wretched gnawing feeling of loneliness and longing returned. It was being rescued from a storm only to be cast back into it. It was hell.

Always depressed with the guilt and regret after a session of The Argument, Tifa often wanted to escape to a place of comfort and serenity. Of course, the only place she could think of that met those exact requirements was the reason why she was depressed in the first place, aggravating her even more.

Lately, she liked to collect her thoughts by hiking up Da-Chao and sitting at the very highest point. Yuffie had taken her there once before, knowing what it was like to want an escape, if for another reason (she had often used this as an escape route when she stole something and needed a safe getaway).

Just such an occasion happened one evening while Tifa was cleaning up the bar. She was feeling so depressed with the reminders of her past that she decided to take the night off. She left Yuffie in charge (which she normally would have been a bit reluctant to do, but at that point she really didn't care if the whole place burned down) and went home to change out of her kimono and into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She slipped on her Premium Heart gloves, just in case she needed to hit something, and then started on her way up the mountain side.

Da-Chao Mountain reminded her of the Nibelheim cliffs she used to scale when she was younger. Wutai's mountain was nowhere near as cold or rocky as Nibelheim's, but the thrill of hiking and climbing was there. The fresh mountain air filled her lungs, and she was almost immediately at peace. She tried to clear her mind, as she knew from experience that if she pushed the issue concerning Cloud to the back of her mind, she could at least get a decent night's sleep.

Tifa reached the summit in almost no time, encountering no one and nothing along the way.

_Almost strange_, she thought, as the mountain usually had one or two monsters for her to pummel and relieve stress upon. She decided to put that out of mind as well, and instead enjoy the gorgeous sunset and the incredible ariel view of Wutai.

was just beginning to relax as she stared out at the deep rosy complection of the horizon when she heard a shuffling sound followed several pebbles fall off of the cliff behind her. She suspected Yuffie immediately and was preparing to chew her out for leaving the bar when she heard a gruff, scratchy voice instead of Yuffie's high, clear one.

"Hello, again," it said.

Tifa nearly screamed but managed to contain it as she spun around to face none other than the man in black.

"Geeze, you nearly scared me to death!" she breathlessly exclaimed, a hand at her chest feeling her heart rate spike. She blushed, embarrassed at being caught so off guard. "What are you doing, creeping up on me like that?"

"Sorry," the man said, and Tifa thought she heard a wry smile in all that scratchiness. "I wasn't expecting you here..."

She should have been able to see his face, seeing as how the last bit of light was directed at him, but some devious trick of the light allowed the cloak to continue concealing his features.

"What are you doing here?" Tifa asked the obvious question.

The man seemed to think that the answer was just as obvious and didn't deserve an immediate response. Instead, he walked over to Tifa to stand beside her, looking out beyond the cliff. Tifa was rather nervous from this movement and stepped to the side, away from the cliff's edge. The man laughed upon seeing Tifa's reaction, but it was a pleasant laugh which again rang painfully familiar upon her ears.

"Perhaps I'm here for the same reason as you?" The man suggested finally. "You seemed to be enjoying to sunset."

Tifa silently watched him for awhile, wondering which of her many questions she should ask him. He became aware of her silence and turned to face her, tilting his head slightly as if giving her a questioning look.

"Am I bothering you?" he asked with a trace of uncertainty in his voice. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you. Please enjoy your evening..." the man mumbled, taking several steps toward the slope leading down the mountain trail.

"No, wait, please!" Tifa suddenly shouted. The man seemed slightly startled, and stopped abruptly.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Why..." she began with a whisper, her eyes searching the ground for the words that she wanted to say.

"Why does your voice...sound so familiar?" she finally asked, looking up at him critically. The man suddenly looked away for a moment.

"You mean, I sound like Cloud?"

Tifa blushed a little. It seemed that the man could read her thoughts.

"Yeah, I guess that's what I'm trying to say..." Tifa said, and then an idea started forming in her head. It became more impossible as it grew, but it was too wonderful to ignore...

_Maybe, he... he's actually... _Tifa's eyes widened as hope flooded her heart. _Cloud! _She was about to cry out, but the man spoke too quickly.

"Perhaps we sound similar because we share Jenova's cells, and we've had prolonged exposure to Mako," he said shortly.

Tifa felt all of the air rush out of her lungs as though she had just been sucker-punched in the stomach. Her hope drained out of her and she suddenly felt tears threatening to spill out. She was angry at herself for being so stupid and hopeful. She was also embarrassed at her reaction, and quickly turned around so that she wouldn't have to face him. The man seemed to notice her obvious disappointment.

"I'm sorry. That must not have been the right answer," he muttered. He paused before continuing. "Is there anything I can do for you before I leave?"

The man stood silently for a few moments while she dried her eyes. She was angry with the way she had been losing control of her feelings lately and would probably lose control of her temper as well if he didn't leave soon. It wasn't his fault, she knew, but she didn't really feel like talking to him any longer. The man seemed to sense this.

"I'll just leave, then."

The man started down the mountain path, taking long strides. Tifa noticed this and wondered if he was annoyed with her. She had acted like a child this evening. As she calmed down a little, she decided that she did want to ask him about Cloud. She'd had it with pining away for Cloud, and she was going to find him or die trying. Since that man was the last person she knew of that had seen him, she would have to ask him a few more questions.


	6. Attacks of Suspicion

**Chapter 6 **

Attacks of Suspicion

—

Tifa half ran, half stumbled down the mountain trail in desperate search of the cloaked man. The wind had started to pick up and her hair blew wildly around her face. She nearly collided into a boulder as she ran into a fork in the road– the right path led down the road to her house, and the left ended at the port.

Tifa paused for a moment and decided that the man would probably be leaving by sea, as there weren't many air ships in the sky since the fall of Shinra. She hurried down the left path.

—

Cloud smacked his hand to his forehead in frustration.

_Idiot, idiot, idiot_, he thought to himself angrily as he strode quickly down the mountain path.

His other hand reached up to pull the stifling black hood off of his head as he took a left fork in the path.

_Dammit!_ He mentally screamed at himself as he dragged a black-gloved hand through his disheveled hair. _What the hell was I thinking?_ _I had every opportunity to... and I'm sure that she even knew... I'm such a fucking coward!!_

He took a vicious swipe with his foot at an un-offending rock lying on the path.

"Urrgg!!!"

Cloud stopped suddenly and leaned against the rocky wall next to him, his forearm pressed against the wall to cushion his aching head.The headaches were getting worse.

"Tifa..." Cloud murmured, sliding slowly down the wall, sitting on his feet in a crouch. He rubbed his temples slowly, trying to think. He had to go back to the shipfor his medication.

_And hope that son of a bitch hasn't beaten me to it, _he finished, bitterly.

He sighed and pressed his back to the wall, letting himself sit on the ground. What the hell _was_ he doing? he wondered.

_I'm here for Tifa,_ he reminded himself patiently._ To take her away from here and be with her forever, away from... _them

Cloud gasped and squeezed his eyes shut as another tremor racked his brain. This time he was left gasping for breath.

_It's getting worse, _he thought. _I need to find her, before the other does._

---

Tifa began running down the left path, her mind running wild with thoughts of questions to ask the man.

_Did Cloud tell you anything about where he was going? Did he say what he was going to do? Will you help me find him?_

Tifa was just rounding a corner when she skidded to such a sudden halt that she slipped on the rocky path and fell sliding in the gravel. Her legs were scratched and bleeding, but the pain didn't quite register as loudly in her mind as the image before her. She was staring, open-mouthed, at the ledge some fifty yards in front of her.

A massive, black-scaled dragon was perchedon the cliff– its thick, leathery wings unfurled as it saw her. It screeched a high-pitched cry accompanied by flames as its reptilian eyes narrowed, watching her.

Tifa, half-lying on the ground, gaped at its flaring nostrils. She clutched at the gravel beneath her gloves and screamed.

---

Cloud's head snapped up the instant he heard it– the monster's screech, followed by her scream.

_Tifa! _he thought wildly.

He was sprinting toward the sounds before he even remembered deciding to move, and saw the dragon before he even thought about his lack of a weapon. The Ultima Weapon was too large and identifying for his mission to visit Tifa, so he had only the materia in his armband for the battle.

His eyes quickly looked beyond the monster, searching for Tifa. He saw her, scrambling to stand on the other side of the dragon.

If the dragon knew that Cloud was there, it seem unconcerned. Tifa had managed to get to her feet, although Cloud could see that she was slightly injured and shaking on what looked like a twisted ankle. She took up her familiar fighting stance, the one he'd stood next to countless times during the war when they'd fought side by side– her fists were poised in guard, ready to attack.

The dragon was also preparing to launch. Its talons scraped the ground irritably, as though this was all an annoying necessity that was taking up its time. It crouched, like a cat the length and breadth of a fire truck. Its muscles were writhing beneath black scales as it prepared to pounce on Tifa.

"ICE THR-" Tifa began to yell, but the sound of anotherdeeper and more commanding voice bellowed from behind the dragon, interrupting her.

"ULTIMA!!"

The dragon screeched in pain as it was engulfed in swirling, piercing green winds and blinding flashes of white light. Through the deafening roar of the rushing green wind, Tifa could hear a familiar, deep and throaty male voice. It was laughing.

_Bastard_, Cloud mentally cursed.

When the dust cleared, the dragon had disappeared. Cloud wasted no time in running to Tifa. She was still staring at the spot where the dragon had been, and only first saw Cloud when he grabbed one of her elbows to keep her steady as she wavered on her feet.

"Tifa, are you alright?" Cloud asked anxiously, his other hand reaching to sweep away the hair that had fallen over her eyes. She stared up at him, mouth quivering slightly.

"C, Cloud!" she cried, and threw her arms around him.

Cloud wrapped his arms around her back and closed his eyes, sighing deeply. She was sobbing loudly against his chest.

"G, gone for two years- I was so w, worried!! H, hadn't heard _anything_ aboutyou f, for so _long, _oh Cloud, I was so st-stupid for letting you go by yourself!!"

Cloud pulled away slightly and tried to smile reassuringly as he held her tear-streaked face between his hands. He tilted her chin up a bit with his right hand and started wiping the tears from her face with his left.

"Tifa," he began, his voice still gruff with the strain of holding back his own tears. "You are definitely not the stupid one. I'm the idiot who ran off alone and stayed away all this time..."

Tifa swallowed hard and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Why did you stay away? Where did you go? And," Tifa continued, a look of realization and outrage beginning to dawn on her face, "_why the hell didn't you tell me you were the man in black?!_"

Cloud couldn't resist a huge grin at the look on her face, and he started laughing when Tifa saw his amusement and punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"I, I didn't know how to... just show up," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. It was a habit Tifa had noticed since they were children that he often displayed out of embarrassment.

"Well as simple 'Hello,' would have done it, I think," Tifa said wisely, but not without a small smile twitching at the corners of her mouth.

"I didn't know what to think," she continued. "I thought that it might be another one of Hojo's minions..."

Tifa stopped in mid sentence, instantly regretting what she had just said. Cloud had been a prisoner of Hojo's for many years and didn't like to be reminded that he had once been considered one of those minions.

Cloud looked away for a moment before looking back, directly into Tifa's eyes. He didn't want to tell her the truth– why he was really dressed like that and where he had really been for the past two years. Tifa gasped a bit to see the fierce determination that burned there, but as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared, leaving a look of such abject sorrow that Tifa nearly began to cry again.

Before she could apologize to him, Cloud drew in a breath as though he were about to say something, but held it in and pressed his lips together, shaking his head.

"Considering the fact that you were just attacked by a dragon," Cloud said a moment later as he fished in his pocket for a handkerchief and ignored the skeptical look that Tifa was giving him for changing the subject. "I don't think that right here and now are either the right time or place to talk about this."

The pain in Tifa's ankle seemed to agree with Cloud as she noticed its throbbing insistence right after he spoke, as if on cue. She sniffed a little and smiled, grabbing the handkerchief that Cloud had produced from his pocket and blew her nose on it, as if taunting him to try and touch her face again with it. Cloud just smiled at her and wrapped one arm around her back, providing himself as a crutch for her injured leg.

They had hobbled together the rest of the way down the hill and were entering the harbor before Tifa realized where they were. She stopped and looked up at Cloud, who had stopped with her but was looking at a ship docked nearby.

"What are we doing here, Cloud?" she asked. "We should go back to my house on the other side of the mountain so I can wrap my ankle..."

Cloud was silent for a moment, his gaze narrowing and his mouth turning into a grim line. He looked back at her with his serious, "Determined-Mr-Leader" look again.

"No, my ship was closer, and now we're here. I can take care of your injuries in there."

He nodded toward the lone ship in the port, a very large, slightly rusted commercial fishing vessel that appeared to be completely desolate of life. Tifa only had a moment to wonder where the rest of the crew was before Cloud started walking again, taking her with him.


	7. The Parting of the Skies

**Chapter 7**

The Parting of the Skies

—

The sky was filling with dark, ominous rain clouds as Tifa and Cloud walked together across the wooden and deserted dock, making their way toward the large metal ship. Tifa leaned heavily on Cloud's arm as they started up the ramp leading to the deck.

Once they reached the top, Tifa stopped to catch her breath. She looked around her, still seeing no signs of a crew the size that this ship undoubtably required. Before she could even ask Cloud how he managed to run this ship alone, he pulled gently at her elbow, looking at her with concern.

"We need to get that leg of yours taken care of," he said, sparing a quick upward glace as fat drops of rain began to fall from the heavy, dark clouds above them. He tightened his embrace around her waist in an effort to support her as he began to lead her toward a nearby open cabin door.

Tifa ignored her many questions for the time being and nodded numbly instead as the twisted muscles in her ankle shot a new stab of pain up her leg. They entered the small room and Tifa gingerly sat down on a stiff, dusty bed. Cloud busied himself with procuring bandages and ointments from cupboards and random corners of the room. Tifa surveyed her surroundings, taking in the musty scent of the mattress and the layers of dust on the counter tops.

_No crew to clean it, of course_, Tifa agreed with her own assumption.

Cloud kneeled in front of her, setting the bandages on the floor next to him.

"Alright, Teef, stretch your leg out on the bed so I can get a clear look at it," he said, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he surveyed her wounds.

Tifa listened to the rain that had started to pour down outside while Cloud began to clean up the cuts on her leg. She could feel the waves as they rushed against the side of the ship, rocking the cabin in time to the sea.

As Cloud gently rubbed a very bitter smelling potion onto her wounds, Tifa ignored the tiny pinpricks of pain by considering which of her many pressing questions to ask him first.

"What are you doing?" she finally asked.

Cloud grinned broadly, but didn't look away from his task.

"Getting the gravel out from underneath your skin so that I can use the Cure materia to close the wound, obviously. Unless, of course, you happen to like the idea of rocky bumps of gravel permanently lodged in your leg..." he added humorously.

"No, I mean, what are you doing _here_," she asked seriously. "Why are you here _now_, after having disappeared for two years? Why were you on that cliff dressed in that black cloak?"

The rain fell loudly, hammering away on the metal siding around them as Cloud's smile vanished. The familiar lines of concentration formed again on his brow as he prepared to cast the healing spell. He held out his left arm in front of him and popped a small green orb out of the bracelet on his wrist, quickly replacing it with a shining, seemingly identical green orb.

He put his two fists side-by-side above Tifa's leg and nodded his head once. Immediately following this gesture, a flash of green light emitted from the bracelet. Tifa felt a familiar tingling sensation wash over her leg and knew that the spell was doing its job. The light disappeared as quickly as it came, leaving nothing but a shimmering after-glow in the air and newly-healed flesh on Tifa's leg.

Unfazed by this beautiful light show, Tifa continued to focus her steady gaze on Cloud, who was now extremely intent on unwinding a length of bandage to wrap around Tifa's still-swollen ankle.

"Cloud..."

The rusted ship groaned loudly as the waves crashed against it.

"Don't worry, Tifa," he said, carefully winding the cloth around her ankle. "The wrap is just a precaution, because bones don't heal as quickly as flesh, and its still going to-

"Cloud! Why are you ignoring me!" Tifa suddenly shouted, her hands balled into fists at her side.

Cloud looked up at her passively, taking in the outrage written all over her usually peaceful features. He looked back to the floor and began to pick up the scattered bandages and bottles before standing up and packing them all back into the cupboards. The wind was now howling outside, and the waves were beginning to rock the ship a little harder, forcing creaks out of its rusty hull. Tifa glared silently at Cloud.

After rearranging everything unnecessarily around in the cupboard, Cloud reached up with both of his hands and rubbed the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the counter top, the palms of his hands covering his eyes. Tifa's own eyes faltered in their intense glaring and softened at the sight of him. He looked so tired.

Tifa hesitated for a moment before she stood up shakily and crossed the short distance to where Cloud was leaning over the counter. She placed a hand on his shoulder and forearm, giving him a small squeeze. He stood up straight and stared hard at her, studying the small lines of worry etched into her visage. He couldn't tell her right now, _didn't_ want to tell her right now. And she knew it.

Tifa wrapped her arms around his waist, rubbing her hand soothingly along his back. He felt his own arms slip around her as he pressed his lips to the top of her head.

With a sudden and violent jerk, the floor seemed to heave upward, sending Cloud and Tifa crashing against it. The storm seemed to have suddenly intensified, breaking giant waves against the protesting metal siding and producing earsplitting creaks and groans from the rusted joints of the ship. Cloud scrambled to his feet, pulling Tifa up with him.

"Are we going to be alright in here?" Tifa practically yelled over the sounds of the violent storm. "I mean, should get go back to land and try to find shelter that can't sink?"

Cloud was still grasping Tifa's hand tightly, but she was a bit startled to see a look of anxiousness and anger on his face. He looked back at her, smoothing his features to reassure her with his professional leader look.

"Wait here," he spoke loudly. He ran to the door of the cabin and tried to open it. The driving force of the winds held the door solidly in place. Cloud tried again, heaving his shoulder into the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"You're totally crazy if you think that you're going out there!" Tifa exclaimed in disbelief, running to the door. Cloud just threw himself at the door again.

"He did this!" Cloud yelled, kicking the offending door.

"He!? He _who_!?"

"We have to get out here _now_, Tifa!"

Tifa, hearing the urgency in Cloud's voice, nodded. Together, they heaved themselves at the door, throwing it open to the storm outside.

The rain was pelting viciously against the deck and the wind nearly tore them out of the doorway and into the sea. They clung to the railing and Tifa stared as far as she could toward the dock. Even beyond the blinding sheets of rain, there was no land in sight.

Horror surged through Tifa as she saw that the ramp leading to the dock had been retracted, and all that she could see was wave after crashing wave of water.

Cloud dragged himself against the force of the elements toward the bridge. The door had already been thrown open, rain soaking the inside. Cloud fell against the monitors and controls of the giant rig, desperately searching for the navigation screen.

Miles. They were miles away from Wutai, right in the middle of the sea. Cloud's numb fingers jabbed at buttons and yanked at levers in vain. Nothing budged.

The storm screamed its relentless rage all around them as Tifa stumbled into the room, wiping her matted hair from her eyes. She stared at Cloud, terror in her eyes at the look on his face.

"Cloud! What's going on! Why are we at sea? And where is the crew?! We can't get this ship through the storm with just the two of us!"

Cloud slammed his fist against the controls.

"Auto pilot! That bastard is navigating the ship by radio!"

"_Who_?! What is going on?"

Cloud gasped suddenly and doubled over, clutching his head and screaming in anguish. Tifa ran over to him, a new wave of terror rushing through her as she saw Cloud crumple to the ground in pain.

"_Cloud!!"_

The wind screeched ferally, drowning out Cloud's cries of agony, even though Tifa was kneeling right beside him. If they weren't in the middle of an ocean, Tifa would have sworn that the pounding of the waves and winds were a train thundering all around them, the shrill whistle an urgent warning to anyone near the tracks.

Water swept into the room without sweeping out again, leaving them sitting in a shallow pool. Tifa's knuckles were white from clutching Cloud's shoulders as she held him to her, trying to keep him sitting upright. He leaned against her, his own hands still grasping his head in a death grip as if he could squeeze the stabbing pain out of his skull.

Another wave of water washed into the room unnoticed by the drenched pair huddled on the floor. Tifa was past the point of panicking, her own mind as numb as her freezing flesh. She just held Cloud tighter, slowly rocking them both back and forth, her eyes shut tightly against the storm.

—

Cloud was not aware of the storm raging around him. He was not aware of falling, nor of Tifa catching him before he hit the ground. Distantly, there was screaming, but if it was him or Tifa or the wind outside, he couldn't tell. All he knew was the pain. It ripped through his mind like a shockwave from some devastating bomb that had been dropped inside his head. It brought back a memory– the kind of memory that your mind can't consciously recall but was permanently engraved in your nerve endings to be recognized if it were ever felt again.

A thousand times, a million times worse than the Mako poisoning, but somehow the same. A wall of glass. Green water, bright lights, the knives and the needles...

_Zack, Zack..._

Cloud began to stand up, the storm-ravaged world of the ship and the sea swimming back into view.

_He's here._

"Cloud?"

Taking several heavy steps, Cloud was in the doorway. The rain was nearly blowing horizontally across the deck; the world was a gray vison of water. He saw him.

Cloud's fingers twitched, reflexively grasping for the hilt of his sword but closing around nothing but air. He wondered vaguely how he was going to kill him without his sword.

"Cloud!!"

He saw him, smiling serenely some thirty feet in front of him, arm raised, holding the Buster sword across his back. _His_ sword.

Cloud snarled, striding across the deck. He'd kill him with his bare hands.

"What are you doing? Cloud!!" Tifa screamed from the doorway of the bridge, holding tightly to the doorpost so that the wind could not knock her down. Cloud was walking straight out onto the windswept deck, ignoring the gale as if it were merely a breeze. Tifa struggled to follow him, but the wind pinned her in place, almost acting as if it were some wall of air and water between her and Cloud. She looked beyond him, wondering what he was striding so menacingly toward. Then she saw him.

She gasped as she took in the long and unruly dark hair, still in that spikey style she remembered from so many years ago. Unchanged was the cocky smirk he always wore right before a battle. The way he held himself, as if daring you to pick a fight with him– there was no way, it couldn't be...

"Zack...?" She murmured.

Cloud stopped several feet in front of his former best friend.

"Cloud!" Zack called out jovially, as if he had just spotted an old friend in a crowd.

"What have you got for me today, Cloudy?" Zack asked politely. "Rain again?" He smiled and held his free hand out in front of him as if to catch the drops of water.

Tifa could see from her position outside the elemental barrier, where the rain and wind were still viciously attacking from every angle, that the storm was not touching the two men inside. Not a single drop of water penetrated the wall to muss a hair on either ex-SOLDIER's head.

Cloud's upper lip curled menacingly.

"Go back to hell!" he snarled.

Zack's eyes betrayed the fixed smile on his face as stared coldly at Cloud.

"But I can't go back empty handed, now can I?" he spoke evenly.

"You failed, Strife," he went on. "You failed her and every chance of happiness you could have ever had. But, a deal is still a deal, and I'm here to ensure that you'll uphold your end..."

The wind swelled to an ear-splitting howl, closing in on all directions. Cloud leapt forward, aiming for Zack, but the wind suddenly changed direction with enough force to hurl him against the side of the ship. Cloud's head struck the iron railing and he fell unconscious to the deck.

Tifa screamed and tried to run to Cloud, but the wind caught her as well, pinning her to the floor. With the storm bearing down full force around her, Tifa could still distinguish a sound– a man's cold, deep laugh of triumph, before she gave in to darkness clouding her eyes.


	8. Love Hurts

**Chapter 8**

Love Hurts

—

"Look at the stars, Cloud. Do you think they know how hard we're fighting for them?"

Tifa was staring up at the night sky when Cloud finally caught up with her, panting as he stumbled up the crest of the hill. They had been running through this valley all night, although if Cloud had really been thinking about it, he might have realized that he didn't even know when "all night" had started, or how they had even gotten here to begin with. He just knew he was following her and that now he had found her. That was all that really mattered.

Cloud walked slowly to stand beside her, surprised to find himself wary that she might take off again, flying over the soft grass like a breeze with her white dress fluttering along behind her. He resisted the urge to reach out and hold her in place, to just reassure himself that she was real and that she was here.

He settled instead to turn his own gaze up at the sky. He suddenly couldn't understand how it could be dark outside with the sky so packed full of light, so deep and so close.

He glanced at Tifa's face, which was full of admiration and wonder as if she were watching the stars spell out some fascinating story for her private enjoyment. She turned her head slightly to look at him, catching him slightly off guard with a smile as bright as the stars that inspired it. He was addicted to that smile; jealous when it was shared with someone unworthy like a patron in her bar, and almost uncontrollably angry when some shadow forced it away from her lips, making them quiver and frown with worry.

And it was now that the stars began to fade and confusion's frown tugged at the corners of her mouth– her lips were moving but he couldn't hear the words...

He broke from his state of enchantment as he suddenly realized the world around him growing dim. He instinctively reached out to keep Tifa close so that he would not lose her in the darkness, but his hand closed over air.

Cloud stared wildly around the darkness– the hills, the sky, the stars– they were all gone.

"Tifa!" he shouted harshly into the void. He saw her, being drawn away into the distance as if she were a puppet being pulled by some invisible string.

—

Cloud's eyes snapped open. There was no soft realization of the warm waves washing over his body as he lay on the beach, face pressed hard into the sand where he washed ashore. It was brutal suddenness, waking when he was certain he hadn't fallen asleep, that he was still chasing Tifa over those hilltops...

He narrowed his eyes. A dream. That's all that was. But as for the ship and the storm...

Still laying in the sand, Cloud quickly scanned his surroundings without moving an inch, as he was trained to do when waking up in alien territory. The beach was deserted, except for the few gulls scavenging from the broken wreckage that had washed ashore with him.

He squeezed his eyes shut against the bright sun and rubbed the salt from his face. There was no amnesia here. He remembered Zack with biting clarity, of how he had thrown himself into the attack as the sky did the stinging winds and pelting rain of the storm. He had been thrown off of him and into the ocean, leaving Tifa to that monster's mercy...

Cloud sprang up, jaws clenched in anger. He stared up and down the beach, but he already knew that she wasn't anywhere near him. She was with Zack and that other damned demented maniac, and God only knew what they were planning to do for their revenge...

Wiping sand from the corners of his mouth, he started down the length of the beach, squinting into the distance. There was a dense, tropical forest cropped very close to the sand, but further down the beach, he could see the unmistakably trademark thatched roofs of a fisherman's village.

As he approached the tiny cluster of mud-walled huts, the shrieks of children's laughter rang all around him. Several small village children ran past him, chasing each other into the surf. He allowed himself a small smile, watching them run past him as if drifters from the sea were an everyday occurrence. Heck, they probably were in this kind of town.

Cloud approached the nearest building and ducked under the low hanging veranda, entering what was most likely a bar. Another staple in the tiny seaside village genre. Cloud slumped onto a bar stool, signaling the bartender.

A tall, reedy looking man with greasy hair scurried up on command, grinning toothily at Cloud.

"Yethir?" The man said with a heavy lisp. He leaned over the counter until he was nearly two inches from Cloud's face. "How can I helthp you today?"

Cloud leaned back and winced at the man's close proximity as he gestured to the dusty shelf of liquor bottles behind the counter.

"I want something to drink," Cloud said without enthusiasm. He just needed something in him to make him function for a while and take the sting off his memories.

"May I suthgest the world-renowned 'Leviathan Currant?' Smooth asth the river ofth the godsth..."

"I need something hard," Cloud said slightly grumpily. "Got any Hellfire?"

"Ah ha!" Cloud nearly fell off his stool at the bartender's sudden screech. "One 'Islandth Hellthfire,' coming up!"

"Hey, wait a minute," Cloud said as the man started to scurry away. The bartender whipped around immediately and scuttled back up to the edge of the counter, peering into Cloud's face as if there were a parade of ants marching across it.

"Where am I, anyway?"

"Wuthai! Technicthly," the reed man trilled excitedly. "Well, we're a few milesth off from the main villath, but this whole islandth ith still goo' ol' Wu-

"Alright, alright," Cloud interrupted. He should have suspected that anyway, without calling attention to his situation. Not that any idiot couldn't deduce enough from his bedraggled appearance. "Shipwrecked" wasn't exactly the style this season.

The bartender hurried away again, and Cloud looked down at his torn and salt-encrusted black clothes. He reached into his pocket, withdrawing a handful of soggy sand and a very battered-looking PHS. Vaguely, he remembered something that Barret had said about water wrecking the cell phones, but Cloud had never paid much attention to him at the time, as he did not now. He flipped open the phone and after shaking out a few drops of water, dialed Barret's number.

It didn't even ring twice before someone answered, but it was definitely not Barret.

"Hi! This is Daddy's secretary! Will you hold please?" sang a girlish voice.

"Erm, Marlene? This is Cloud. Could I speak to your father, please?"

"_Cloud_, you're supposed to be holding!" Marlene giggled and then began humming "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" for the holding music. Cloud didn't want to be impatient with a six year old girl, but he was really in a hurry. He tried not to imagine what could have happened to Tifa by now...

"Did I hear you say 'Cloud,' Marlene!?" called a voice in the background.

"Yes Daddy. You have a Mr. Cloud waiting for you on line 2. Should I tell him you are out to lunch?" Marlene giggled again. There was a shuffling noise as the phone was exchanged, and Barret's deep, gruff baritone answered.

"Well I'll be a... Cloud! Goddamn, man, where the hell you been? You know you been gone for damn near two years wi' out so much as a phone call? Damn, Tifa been worried sick..."

"Barret, listen," Cloud interrupted impatiently. "I need you to call up the crew. Whoever can come, load them up in the _Highwind_ and bring them on down to Wutai. It's an emergency."

"Wha? Damn man, what's goin' on?"

"There really isn't time to explain," Cloud said with a sigh of exasperation. "I'll tell you all when you get here..."

"Well, you must be wi' Tifa then, 'cuz she's down at the Turtle Paradise, did you know?"

"Yeah, she was..."

"Huh? Whaddya mean, she WAS?! Where the hell–

"Barret! Just get everyone else down here. Meet me at Turtle Paradise."

Cloud snapped the phone shut and stared out the bamboo-framed window for a few moments, lost in thought. He turned around suddenly as he remembered that he was thirsty, and ran face-to-face with the oily barkeep. He had been leaning over the counter next to Cloud's ear during the entire phone conversation and now looked deeply terrified as Cloud threw an angry look of annoyance at him. He picked up his glass, took a hard gulp, threw down some Gil, and left the bar, walking down the road to the main town of Wutai.

—

"...Tifa."

Tifa opened her eyes groggily, the world appearing as a rather unbecoming fuzzy mess to her sleepy eyes. She was suddenly and painfully aware of the frozen cement floor she had been lying on as her aching muscles protested the movement. She propped herself up on her elbow and squinted into the darkness. There was the shadowy outline of a man beyond what appeared to be the bars of a cell. Tifa stood up suddenly, and instantly regretted it as a wave of nausea swept over her. She doubled over, clutching her head between her hands when the man spoke again.

"Long time no see, Lockheart."

Tifa's heart leapt into her throat. That voice... That voice had died seven years ago...

"Aren't you even going to say 'Hi,' Teef?"

"Z, Zack..." Tifa croaked, unwilling to lift her head and make her eyes believe her ears.

"I knew you wouldn't forget me, Tifa," Zack said with the ghost of a smile. "You always were so considerate of others..." The faint smile faded from his face. "Shame that same respect can't be repaid..."

Tifa fought to lift her head, forcing herself to make sense of the blurry outlines.

"What are you... I thought you..."

"I didn't die, if that's what you're thinking. Didn't your precious _Cloud_ tell you anything?" Zack spat, surprising Tifa with his sudden vehemence. "About how I saved his worthless life from Hojo and escaped to Midgar seven years ago?"

Zack trailed off into bitter silence as Tifa continued to stare at him. She clenched her jaw against another wave of pain that seemed to pulse throughout her body as if it were in her very blood.

"He..." she began. "He didn't remember... And from what we saw in the Lifestream..."

Tifa's hand flew to her mouth as she gagged on blood and bile that had suddenly risen to her throat. Zack stared hard through the bars at Tifa's hunched over and choking figure.

"You honestly believe in Cloud's memories? He, who didn't even know who he was for years after, and who lied to you..."

"No!" Tifa yelled between gasps of air. What was happening to her?

"I believe him," she continued, still holding her hand to her mouth to catch the dripping fluids. "He just didn't know the truth. He was just... hurt and..."

"_He_ was hurt!?" Zack shouted angrily. "_He_ wasn't shot sixteen times in the guts with a rifle! _He_ didn't have to crawl, bleeding, through the rain and mud, scavenging on rats, barely alive..." Zack closed his eyes, his fists shaking.

"He..." Zack continued. "Instead, he _became_ me– no," Zack's eyes snapped open and he stared beyond Tifa and the cellar, a mad travesty of a half-grin on his face. "He tried to become me. He acted, spoke, attempted..." He slammed his fist suddenly into the bars before Tifa, causing her to involuntarily jump in surprise.

"He found her, he tried to take her from me..." The mad glint in his eye faded, and his hand slid from the bars to rest limply by his side. "He couldn't even protect her. He let her die..."

Tifa stared at him wide-eyed. Zack was silent for a few moments, lost in his own thoughts and staring at the invisible something over Tifa's shoulder.

_He's completely insane_, Tifa thought for a few fearful moments. _He's kidnapped me to lure Cloud here, and he wants to kill us both..._

Zack suddenly looked at Tifa, softness returning to his features.

"I'm no monster, if that's what you're thinking," he said softly. "I don't want to be here anymore than you do, but we all have our... priorities..."

"What are you talking about?" Tifa nearly whimpered. His manically unstable reactions were making her teeter over the breaking point. "You don't want to be here? You brought me here, didn't you?"

"I did as I was ordered," Zack said curtly. "Tifa, I won't lie to you– and that's one place where Cloud failed to copy my identity." Tifa saw the glimmer of bitterness spark itself in his eyes for a moment.

"I want you to know this isn't your fault. I don't blame you for any of this, and I don't think that you should have to suffer for him," Zack said, his voice calm once more.

Tifa's mind was whirring. She felt as though her body were rocking slowly back and forth underwater, totally out of control...

"This isn't your fault," Zack repeated softly. "But..."

Tifa heard him as if he were a million miles away, she was falling deeper into the water...

"But... I want you to die with the understanding that love hurts."


	9. Reunion

**A/N:** This chapter is dedicated as a Christmas present to the most awesome and amazing **Teef**– a faithful CloTi fan and dedicated author and reviewer. Sorry if this chapter isn't exactly filled with Christmas cheer, but it _is_ filled with yummy plot-thickening devices. Enjoy!

**-P**

—

**Chapter 9**

Reunion

—

Cloud stood on the bridge of the Highwind three hours after leaving the ground of Wutai; his arms were crossed in his patented "Leader" pose with brows furrowed to match. They had just pulled away from Cosmo Canyon after picking up Red, the last member of AVALANCHE to arrive on the ship after Cloud's call.

Now the team assembled on the bridge, all waiting to hear what the state of emergency was, albeit some more patiently than others.

"What in the # did you screw up now, Strife?" Cid managed to say with a cigarette clutched in his smugly grinning mouth. He crossed his arms and stood directly in front of Cloud. "Or did you just think it would be funny to see if we would all come running at your beckoning call?"

"Personally, I'm more interested in hearing about where you've been for the past two years, Cloud..." Red suggested.

"Well _I_ wanna know what's up with the freaky black get-up!" Yuffie said loudly, pointing at the ragged black clothes that Cloud was still wearing.

"Hmph, there is nothing wrong with wearing a cloak," Vincent said darkly from his corner. Yuffie opened her mouth widely, ready for her golden opportunity to tease Vincent about his vampire-esque outfit when Cloud cut in.

"Everyone, listen to me." His normally commanding voice was tinged with sadness but still strong enough to demand his team's attention. All eyes turned to Cloud, and he paused for a moment as he got his first full look at everyone in two years.

_This is a professional team_, he thought with a small smile. They all stood silently, waiting for their leader to speak.

Cloud closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as a wave of exhaustion washed over him. He felt another headache coming on and some distant part of his brain reminded him that he hadn't taken the medicine since the day before. It was all on that storm-wrecked ship, which was probably sleeping with Emerald WEAPON at the bottom of the ocean by now. He would just have to do without.

He looked up again to find everyone still watching him intently, all with some version of the same question on their lips–

_Where's Tifa?_

"Everyone, I'm sorry for being away for so long, but I didn't call you here for a reunion."

"Amen!" cheered Cait Sith from the corner of the room. Vincent shot a death-glare at President Reeves's robotic cat and it wilted back into silence.

Cloud took a deep breath. He didn't know how much he would have to reveal to them, but he would explain as much as it took to find Tifa.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush here," he said, unsure of how to break the news to them. Barret was already glaring at him for not answering his questions on the phone.

"Tifa is... Tifa has been taken," he finally said, his eyes directed at a corner of the room instead of at their shocked faces.

"I know who took her and I know where she is, but I need your help to get her back."

There was a resounding chorus of "where is she?" and "who took her?" but Barret just marched up to Cloud, who braced himself for the inevitable verbal onslaught from Tifa's most fierce protector.

"What in # hell is the matter with you, Spike!?" Barret started, towering over Cloud. "You standin' there so cool, as if Tifa were just another one of your # missions! Do you have _any_ idea what she went through when you left? An' now you just march back in when ever you damn well please an' get her _kidnapped..._"

Everyone expected Cloud to get angry and defend himself against these accusations, but to their surprise, he just looked extremely tired. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, as if he were a boy being scolded by an angry adult, ashamed of whatever it was he had done. Barret was practically seething as he looked down at Cloud.

"Hmph," Barret filled the silence with a sound of disgust, "Don' matter. She was too good for you, anyway."

Cloud said nothing but his eyes narrowed as they continued to stare at the floor. Barret still towered over him, fully expecting a retaliation or explanation of some sort and growing angrier by the moment as Cloud just stood in guilty silence instead.

The rest of the crew was growing wary on the sidelines of the tense stand-off until Cid finally stepped forward.

"A'ight guys, this ain't got nothin' to do with findin' Tifa." It was amazing how calm the pilot could be in a situation like this. Cloud guessed that it was either his years in the military or the nicotine from his perpetual cigarette.

"Cloud, now just tell us what the hell is going on," Cid went on, watching Barret in case the larger man made a fuss. Barret visibly unclenched his jaw and gestured toward Cloud.

"You heard the man. What the #$ is goin' on?"

This was the part that Cloud did not want to talk about. He looked up and held his crew in a piercing stare, measuring his words carefully.

"Tifa has been taken," he stated again. Yuffie stomped her foot in impatience.

"We already know that!" the small ninja complained loudly. "Get on with the good stuff! Who took her?"

"Do you remember..." Cloud tried to explain, but shook his head. "Did I ever tell you about... my friend, Zack?"

Everyone stared at him blankly for a moment before Yuffie broke the silence.

"OOOHH!!" she yelled suddenly in realization. "He's that guy who you were pretending to be until you fell into the Lifestream!"

"Yuffie!" Vincent hissed, irritated by her bluntness. Cloud only nodded.

"That's right. Zack, my best friend and the real SOLDIER, has kidnapped Tifa."

"What the !#$, Cloud?" Barret interjected, clearly losing his patience again. "I thought you told us that guy was dead? How the hell he walkin' around kidnappin' girls?"

"He isn't dead..." Cloud started warily, not wanting to get into this part.

"You mean he never died, or he came back from the dead, like a #$ zombie or somethin'?" Cid was now staring at Cloud shrewdly.

"He... had help..."

"The only man I knew who was able to bring back the dead was Hojo," Vincent said quietly, but everyone turned to look at him. Vincent just stared coldly at Cloud, who held his gaze but said nothing. The air thickened in the cabin again as everyone held their breath. Finally, Cloud spoke in an even voice:

"They're in the Promised Land."

—

Tifa was laying on something cold and hard again when she drifted back into consciousness. She half-hoped, as she lay very still with her eyes closed, that she would wake up and find herself laying on the mountain path of Da Chao, and that all these dreams of dragons and dead men would disappear as soon as she opened her eyes.

She ventured to crack an eyelid. The room was very dark, lit only with an eerie green glow from some source that Tifa could not see. Directly above her seemed to be some sort of sharp, pointy apparatus, and Tifa suppressed a moan as she found her wrists and ankles were bound to the metal table that she was laying on.

_This can't be happening, what's happening to me..._ She thought, feeling a wave of nausea wash over her again. She tried to turn her head to get a better view of the room around her, but her neck was stiff and the movement shot stabs of pain through her body.

She whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut. _This isn't happening, this isn't happening– I'm at home, I'm at the bar, I'm not dying here..._

A maniacal peal of laughter startled her, but she didn't try to turn her head to find the source. She could hear voices in what sounded like a near-by room, and she strained to listen.

"...is almost finished," a frenzied, wizened voice was saying. "As soon as that numberless failure returns, yes he will... the final stage will be complete..."

"Hojo..." A shockwave of fear passed through Tifa as she heard the name.

_Hojo!_

Zack's uncertain voice went on. "We do not need to wait for Cloud's return. I believe that we have enough data after two years..."

"Silence!" Hojo's feeble voice suddenly commanded. Tifa cringed and Zack was silent in the next room.

"That boy, that miserable _failure_..." Hojo hissed, and Tifa had to concentrate very hard to make out what he was saying.

"He ruined everything once, but now he will make everything right... My son... will never be whole without his revenge!"

Tifa bit her bottom lip to choke back a sob as Hojo cackled madly. She was trapped with these maniacs, luring Cloud to his death, and Hojo's _son_...

"...and the girl?" Zack said thickly. "Is she merely bait or are we finished with her?"

"Eh?" Hojo stopped laughing abruptly. "Which girl? The ancient?"

Tifa was certain that her heart had stopped.

_Not..._ _he _couldn't_ be talking about..._

"No..." Zack said after a moment. "The other one, Cloud's girl..."

_Aeris!?_

"...She is a successful prototype," Hojo said in the clipped, clinical tones of a scientist. "It doesn't matter what happens to her now– they will all die soon enough."

"Cloud will not... _cooperate_ if he finds her dead..." Zack seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "Would it not be wise to administer a cure to her first, since they will all die in the end anyway?"

"Don't be foolish," Hojo spat. "There is no cure, and Cloud will come regardless. The headaches will be more than enough incentive..."

Tifa's stomach turned again, barely able to absorb all of this. A cure... what had they done to her? Why were they talking about Aeris? And Cloud was_ helping_ them?

"You promised him that she would live," Zack was saying now, his voice beginning to shake with rage. "And what about me? Is Aeris just as expendable?"

"Of course not. The Ancient is... special."

"You told me that she would live!" Zack was shouting, and Tifa winced as something heavy collided with a wall. "She hasn't opened her eyes in two years! You promised– !"

"That's right," Hojo sounded closer now, as if he were near the doorway to Tifa's room. His breathing was labored, coming in short, rasping gasps.

"I have not forgotten your reward, SOLDIER," his raspy voice said coldly. "As soon as you bring me Cloud and finish the final stage, you will be _reunited_ with your precious Ancient..."

Tifa squeezed her eyes shut again as she heard his rasping breaths draw closer to where she lay helplessly immobile on the table.

_Oh Cloud, stay away from here, don't let them finish this..._

"There can be nothing more rewarding than becoming one with Sephiroth..." he breathed, directly above her.

Tifa slowly forced her eyes open. In the dim green light, she could see his face– horribly disfigured, like a lump of clay pulled in every direction. His stringy black hair was clinging in clumps to his scalp, and he sneered down at her, revealing broken and missing teeth.

Tifa screamed, and Hojo laughed above her maniacally as she fell unconscious once more.


End file.
